I had heard this from a relative recently. He has a son who, to put it mildly, ia quite a handful. When the son was young, the son took the money for tuition and use it to buy the first generation Sony Playstation. The son got beaten up when the father found out later.

Before the son reached 18, he wanted to get a motorbike so the Dad promised the son that he will get him one when he reached the proper age according to law. However, this son did not wait and stole a bike to fulfil his need for speed. The son was arrested and the Dad had to bail him out. That was not the end of the story. Later, the son found a job and now wanted to get a car. So the dad used his hard earned money to get a car for the son. But the son wanted more money to get top notch accessories for the car, so the father indulged the son again and the son got sports rims, low suspension etc. for the car. The son crashed the car twice, and again the father bail him out again and again.

The son is now in his mid 30s and has the latest Sony Playstation 3 with the original racing games. The son got a new spanky car courtesy of a re-mortagage on his father's apartment (which the dad, his daughters, and both his sons had help to finance- the youngest son is incidental to the story). The re-mortagage was to pay back credit card debts that he and his wife had incurred in their spending spree. This is on top of the $15,000 that the dad had spent to cut his eldest son's credit card debts the first time around.

How much did the dad spend on his son? I had lost count by the time the dad finished recounting his story. Do you know what is the worst part of the story? It is that the dad was driving a car that is almost antique, more than 20 years old by the looks of it and almost falling apart. And his son has a motorbike and a spanking new car that has dvd player and sunscreen. The same car which the son's wife refused to let his dad and younger brother use despite her being in Japan for a holiday with their daughter, enjoying the money from the re-mortagage which the rest of the family did not see a single cent of. They all live in the same house which was re-mortagaged.

The moral of the story? Keep your money for your retirement, and cut the children loose when they start work. If they run into trouble, let them solve it on their own, or they will forever be a child and you will still have to provide for them even when they are in their 30s. A child is only one up till 12, then they are teenagers, after that, they are adults whether they like it or you like it or not. Filial piety is overrated, keep money that you and your spouse need for retirement.

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That's a sad story. So unfortunate for the father but I hate to say that the fault goes back on him. Well, you are very right just" keep your money for your retirement, and cut the children loose when they start work. If they run into trouble, let them solve it on their own....". They need to learn to be independant from a young age. :-))

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